Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Textiles connect a variety of practices and traditions, ranging from the refined couture garments of Parisian fashion to the high-tech filaments strong enough to hoist a satellite into space. High-performance fabrics are being reconceived as immersive webs, structural networks and information exchanges, and their ability to interface with technology is changing how the human body is experienced and how the urban environment is built. Today, textiles reveal their capacity to transform our world more than any other material. Textile Futures highlights recent works from key practitioners and examines the changing role of textiles. Recent developments present new technical possibilities that are beginning to redefine textiles as a uniquely multidisciplinary field of innovation and research. This book is an important tool for any textile practitioner, fashion designer, architect, interior designer or student designer interested in following new developments in the field of textiles, seeking new sustainable sources, or just eager to discover new works that reveal the potency of textiles as an ultramaterial.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• General Introduction (p. 1)
• 1 Body Technology (p. 7)
• Electronic Textiles (p. 10)
• Illuminating Fabric (p. 15)
• Embedded Fibres (p. 17)
• Subtle Surveillance (p. 20)
• Emotive Interfaces (p. 22)
• Feel the Love (p. 28)
• Feature Interview: Angel Chang (p. 30)
• 2 Synthesized Skins (p. 35)
• Exoskeletons (p. 37)
• Robotic Textiles (p. 39)
• Sport Skins (p. 41)
• Fortified Fashion (p. 41)
• Instant Armour (p. 46)
• Fluid-Based Fabrics (p. 47)
• Sensory Skins (p. 52)
• Soft Skeletons (p. 55)
• Feature Interview: Vexed Generation (p. 57)
• 3 Surfaces (p. 61)
• Perceptual Surfaces (p. 63)
• Invisibility (p. 66)
• Hypersurfaces (p. 68)
• Switchable Surfaces (p. 70)
• Textural Interfaces (p. 71)
• Textiles for Virtual Worlds (p. 73)
• Second Life (p. 75)
• Feature Interview: Jane Harris (p. 79)
• 4 Vital Signs (p. 85)
• Antimicrobial Fabrics (p. 86)
• Biotextiles (p. 91)
• Diagnostic Textiles (p. 97)
• Medicating Fabrics (p. 100)
• Smart Bandages (p. 101)
• Colour and Well-Being (p. 102)
• Feature Interview: Ptolemy Mann (p. 104)
• 5 Sustainability (p. 109)
• Biomimicry (p. 111)
• Spider Silk (p. 118)
• Upcycled Chic (p. 120)
• Weaving Social Links (p. 131)
• Feature Interview: Carole Collet (p. 140)
• 6 Contemporary Art (p. 145)
• Textile Installations (p. 147)
• Second Skins (p. 153)
• Subversive Stitches (p. 159)
• Feature Interview: Janet Echelman (p. 166)
• 7 Interior Textiles (p. 171)
• Soft Walls (p. 172)
• Fibre Furniture (p. 184)
• Reactive Surfaces (p. 200)
• Sensory Membranes (p. 202)
• Smart Carpets (p. 204)
• Reactive Rugs (p. 206)
• Thermosensitive Materials (p. 207)
• Lighting (p. 209)
• Fibre Optics (p. 210)
• Electric Embroidery (p. 211)
• Feature Interview: Hsiao-Chi Tsai (p. 213)
• 8 Textiles for Architecture (p. 217)
• Membrane Structures (p. 218)
• Metal Textiles (p. 221)
• Carbon Fibres (p. 227)
• Inflatable Structures (p. 228)
• Fabric Formwork (p. 231)
• Girli Concrete (p. 235)
• Geotextiles (p. 237)
• Feature Interview: Toshiko Mori (p. 239)
• 9 Extreme Interfaces (p. 245)
• Surface Energy (p. 247)
• Crystal Energy (p. 248)
• Flight (p. 252)
• Kinetic Fabrics (p. 258)
• Energy Absorption (p. 259)
• Extremophiles (p. 262)
• Textiles as Biological Agents (p. 267)
• Feature Interview: Loop.pH (p. 268)
• Notes (p. 273)
• Bibliography (p. 291)
• List of Credits (p. 295)
• Index (p. 305)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

New fibers and fabrics, connected to technology, can be made into garments that make the wearer invisible, transform the wearer into a mobile networked environment, or transmit information about the wearer's health. These and countless other awe-inspiring applications have become possible through rapid advances in science and technology in the field of textile fibers, fabrics, and textile techniques. First presented in Cooper-Hewitt's 2005 Extreme Textiles show, which inspired independent scholar Quinn's research, these textiles appear to be pervading many new areas of human function, creating an interdisciplinary field. Quinn, the author of Techno Fashion (2002) and The Fashion of Architecture (2003), among other publications, gives an exhaustive, easily understandable account of the new discoveries in medical and defense applications, communication, product design, fashion, contemporary art, architecture, and interiors, and includes an interview with an expert in each chapter. He also devotes a chapter to sustainable textiles. Black-and-white and color photographs generously illustrate this annotated volume that opens up an expansive view of the future of textiles and should interest both professionals and laypersons. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above; general readers. M. Tulokas emerita, Rhode Island School of Design